


Among Many Voices

by Blu_Montagne



Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: Anxiety, Blood and Gore, Fluff, Folklore, Heavy Angst, How Do I Tag, M/M, Tragedy, Urban Legends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:33:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blu_Montagne/pseuds/Blu_Montagne
Summary: Featuring Elias “Blitz” Kotz, and Gilles “Montagne” Toure, and the malevolent entities that imprint on them.The setting takes place in Bordeaux, skirting the city limits. Strange phenomena have been recorded near the outskirts of the Wine Capital, and Rainbow suspects it being White Mask in nature. Little does anyone know that the least of their worries would be White Masks in this investigation.This story is based on two entities that reside on my family’s land, my mother and aunt both being witness to one of the two entities.Happy Halloween y’all, and enjoy the ficlet.WARNING: Reader discretion advised. This ficlet contains disturbing/unsettling imagery, gore, major death.
Relationships: Elias "Blitz" Kötz/Gilles "Montagne" Touré
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Among Many Voices

“Kötz, wake up...we’re approaching Bordeaux.” Gilles’ voice jumped the German awake, rubbing his face that was squished up against the passenger window. Elias blinked hard, gave Gilles a look. A thick blanket of fog had encapsulated the area, making it difficult to drive. The only outstanding features they could see were the trees and the foliage of the fields around. The Frenchman had found a side road to park on, and he got out of the car. 

“When did all of this fog roll in? Were they calling for it this morning?” Elias muttered, fixing his hair before stepping out of the car as well. 

“No. It was clear skies last night. Sometimes fog comes in from the beach, off the ocean. It’s pretty normal, even this thick.” Gilles sighed, making his way to the trunk of the car. Elias followed. “Did the shields survive that hellish drive?” Elias asked, Gilles giving him a look as he grabbed his pistol from the specialized rack their weapons and shields were on, tucked it neatly away in his jeans. 

The two operators were instructed to dress as civilians, pull reconnaissance. They would have a better time if no one saw two large tanks strolling down the street. The officials at Rainbow back home could see everything, thanks to the built in zipper-cams of their hoodies. “You’re in a mood, I can tell…” Elias muttered, tucking his own pistol out of sight on his person. “Just...don’t blow this operation, _ja?_ (Yeah?)” the shorter man glanced up at the giant, pursing his lips and tapping at his zipper before closing the trunk. Gilles only rolled his eyes, but then started off down the road, hands tucked in his jacket pockets. Accompanying the fog, it had been a chilly few days here back home. 

“We’re only a mile or so from town. Surely we won’t need the shields, _surely_ this isn’t a White Mask movement. I think their intel was bad on this one. We would have seen a bigger pattern in the news pertaining to them...but what do we know? We’re just field agents.” Gilles frowned, glanced down at Elias. “Just keep quiet, let me do the talking... _Your French is horrible._ ” he said, unable to hide a smirk now as Elias rolled his eyes. 

The two traveled in silence, until something rustled in the shrubbery lining the road, fifty feet or so in front of them. “The fuck was that?” Elias hissed, reaching for his gun at his lower back. Gilles stopped him, however, placed a hand on his shoulder. “Take it down a few notches, Kötz. There’s deer and other wildlife all around this area, the vineyards attract them...and here you said I was in a mood. You’ll be the one that blows our cover quicker than I will.” Gilles said, patted his back before leading on. 

Elias seemed on more of an edge than the giant was, but at the same time, Gilles knew this area. He knew what went down here in the country-side. 

"You live out here, don't you? Like, you have a vineyard or something?" Elias asked after some silence. Gilles nodded, looked around. "Past this tree line, about ten minutes by car that way. It's one of the older, more historic buildings." He nodded, smirked. "Shit gets down right creepy around the house, sometimes. I'll be watching T.V., and I can hear noises from the cellar. It's just the barrels settling, but it makes you wonder…" he said, and Elias visibly shuddered. 

"How you can even enjoy living there is beyond me. I would have gone absolute daft by then." The smaller man muttered. Gilles only shrugged. "Little to nothing scares me, Kötz. Do remember, we're shield men. We can't let things get to us easy." The Frenchman said, giving Elias' shoulder a meaty pat as they walked on. 

They were almost to the skirts of the city, when Elias slowed, trained his gaze to the treeline edging the buildings. "...It was another deer, Elle...come on." Gilles muttered, but Elias swatted a hand, hissed at him to be quiet. The two stood in silence, but Gilles was not amused. "...You can't tell me you don't hear that?" Elias asked. Gilles rose a brow, "What, the sounds of you losing your absolute shit? Yeah, I haven't heard the end of it since we got out of the car." The giant grumbled. "No-! No it's...it sounds like a _child crying_." Elias said, walking towards the tree line now. 

Gilles became agitated, "Now is not the time to fuck around, Kötz. We're on a mission, remember?" He hissed, but then knit his brows as he too heard the crying sounds when he approached the German's side. Elias saw his expression change, now gave him a look. "Yeah, you hear it now, don't you? _Taub, alter bastard._ (Deaf, old bastard…) " Elias muttered at the end, then took off into the woods. 

Gilles now scrambled, taking off after him. "Elias! Stop! We can't divert from the mission--" "Fuck the mission! There's a kid out there, probably lost!" Elias called back, speeding up his gait, dodging low hanging limbs and leaping over upturned roots. The Frenchman caught up with little effort, had to duck multiple times to keep from clotheslining himself on low hanging branches. "Elias! Stop!" Gilles called. But the other man never listened. The crying had finally stopped, and so did Elias. Gilles had to toss the brakes on to keep from bowling over his partner. The man panted as he approached. 

"Have you gone absolutely squirrel shit, Kötz?! I told you to stop--" Gilles huffed, was cut off again by the man as he rose a hand once more. There was silence. Eerie silence. No sing-songs from the birds, no chattering critters. Nothing. "...See, there's nothing out here. Let's get back to the road...back to the mission. Local authorities will handle it, if it's in fact an A.P.V." Gilles sighed. Elias was sure that he had heard a child crying, brows knit as he turned to face the direction they came. Gilles lead the man, and they trudged on. "...I'm sorry, Gilles. Just thought there was a kid that needed help." He muttered. "...It's okay, Elle. I understand your concern. I'm sure Six will understand once she sees the footage as well." The Frenchman whispered. 

The two trekked on through the woods, for a while now, it seemed. Elias had become restless, pushed his bangs from his face before Gilles stopped. The larger man swiveled his gaze. "...We've been going in circles. I recognize that knot on that tree there, and that broken branch that's hanging oddly on that tree." He muttered, pointed to each. Elias frowned lightly, "I thought you knew this area like the back of your hand, Gilles?" The German said. Gilles nodded, "I do...I do know this area. We must have taken a turn somewhere earlier. Let's just...mark this area, then turn back." The Frenchman grunted as he pulled his knife from his pocket, started carving into the largest tree he found. A cross, for good measure.

"...That's bad luck, you know that, right?" Elias started, but Gilles passed him to go the way they had come. "It's bad luck that we're lost in the woods, Elle. A cross is a ray of hope, a signal. We see it again, we go in a different direction than what we are now, _oui?_ (Yes?) We'll get back to town, I promise." Gilles said, giving the younger a half apologetic look. Elias sighed heavily, but turned and followed the other operative.

Another bout of silence, and half an hour more of roaming about the forest, and the two had found their way out of the woods. Where they had wound up, however, was nowhere near the city. It was nothing but rolling fields and villa style buildings, peppered haphazardly apart. Elias gave a glance around, and Gilles stopped in his tracks. "...This doesn't look like the city.." Elias said. The Frenchman took a deep breath, rolled a deadpan down to Elias. "Well, at least we know where we are. This is the historic district. All vineyards through here. Let's find one that has power, call Six and inform her of what happened." Gilles said, started off towards the nearest row of grape vines.

Now Elias felt a pang of regret. He shouldn't have taken off, strictly on a hunch. He followed Gilles quietly, his gaze shifting around his environment. The grape vines they passed by stood fairly tall, but not a single one was fruitful, or alive, even. All that stood coiled around the stakes were petrified, deadened vines. They spanned for at least a mile on either side of them. 

"...What's wrong with these grapes? Are they dead?" He asked, trying to keep light with it. The Frenchman answered back, "Yes. This vineyard has been neglected for a while...if memory serves, this is _the_ first vineyard of the land. This plot is easily four, five hundred years old. Despite the pond on the other side of the vineyard, the irrigation system they had implemented failed them, in the last one hundred years. It's been sitting, condemned for a century now." He said quietly, careful not to break anything he passed by. Once the two made it past the grape vines, they stood at the dilapidated, squalored wine house. Elias tried to swallow the knot in his throat. "...So we're going in..? Will it even have a working phone? And won't we be court martialed if we enter a condemned area?" Elias said, unable to hide the unease in his voice. 

Gilles took another deep breath, almost sneering at his partner's naivety. "I will answer your questions in order; Yes, we are going in, more than likely it will have a working phone, and no. We are covert operatives. We stand above run-of-the-mill condemnation." Gilles said, then turned to face the German, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Look, I don't want to go in any more than you do, Elle...but Six needs to know when the mission has detours taken. You know we can't use our personals to notify her. The quicker we get in and call, the quicker we can get out." Gilles said, made it to one of the double doors nearest them. 

He had now drawn his pistol, pushed a door open. It creaked and groaned horribly. This made him cringe faintly, but stepped into the ancient building. Elias followed suit, pistol on a swivel. It was pitch dark in there. The two remained silent, Gilles switching his underbarrel light on. He gave Elias an index finger to his lips, indicating to remain silent as he searched for a light switch. He finally found one, and the dingy, incandescent lights flickered on. 

The foyer was roped off, caution tape not yet having made its debut back then. Dried, yet oily looking stains smattered the walls, furniture in ruin and upturned, some items splattered in that same, slick coating. There was an old phone past the ropes, on a side table. Gilles started stepping over a rope, but Elias grabbed his shoulder. "What are those stains on the wall? Hopefully it's old wine leaks?" He chuckled nervously. The Frenchman made it to the phone after shaking free out Elias' grip, dialing a few sets of numbers. "No. Not wine. The wine is always stored in the cellars, because of gravity." He muttered, listened for specific tones, and authorization codes. "Point Break." He muttered into the phone, then went quiet again. 

_"Touré, Gilles. Montagne. Oui, mademoiselle...Nous ... Elias pensait avoir entendu un enfant en détresse. nous avons coupé dans les bois, nous nous sommes retrouvés de l'autre côté. Oui madame ... ça ne se reproduira plus, madame._ (We...Elias thought he heard a child in distress. We cut into the woods, wound up on the other side of them. Yes ma'am...it won't happen again, ma'am.)" Gilles had spoken over the phone, then hung up when his superior gave him a proper chewing. 

Elias hung his head, but Gilles looked over his shoulder to the stains his partner pointed out. _What better way to pay Elias back for that chewing than scaring the living shit out of him?_

"Did you not hear about this vineyard?" He said, now stepping back over the rope. "This was the last stand for Johannes Patrice. Brother of Alégre Partrice." He said. Elias only blinked. Gilles sighed, "Do you remember hearing about the man that raped and killed five plus victims in this area?" Gilles asked, then Elias connected. "Oh, yeah...wait, is this..?" The German now stuttered, backing up. Gilles shook his head, "No. Partrice was hanged until dead a while ago...but his little brother had the same ideologies, did the same heinous crimes. From what I hear, Johannes was chased out of town into the historic district, but wound up killing himself when he wrapped his car around a tree. To this day, people have reported seeing Johannes in this area, walking and talking." Gilles said. He waited for Elias’ reaction, but got nothing. 

“Well, believe me or not about that one, but there’s also been reports of some strange happenings going on around this area...it actually makes sense that you heard a child crying for help earlier. I didn’t want to alarm you, but there have been reports of persons going missing, hearing the same cries for help by children in this area. Legend has it that Johannes is followed by an ancient entity native to the soil, a personal executioner, if you will. Some call it the ‘Beast of Gevaudan.’ I don’t think it’s the beast of the famed legend...no, I think this one is something entirely different. The point is, I’ve read many files on something terrorizing this area, and it isn’t human.” he said, gravely. This much, he wasn’t lying about. He wasn’t lying to Elias when he said he didn’t want to be here any longer than he did. He believed the lore. 

"...You're so fucking full of shit, Gilles. I swear--" _"I am dead serious_. Look them up whenever we get service that's worth a damn." Gilles butted in, held a hand up. Elias pursed his lips, clearly unamused, but stepped back to let the taller man step over the rope.

No sooner than when his foot hit the floor, Gilles swung around like lightning, barrel aimed for the stairs that lead to the floor above. This made Elias fumble, but then trained his pistol on the stairs as well. _"What, what, what is it?!"_ He hissed at Gilles quietly, and the taller stepped back over the ropes and started for the stairs. "G-Gilles!" Elias whined, then scrambled over the rope to join the man as he now started up the stairs. Now it was Gilles’ turn to get a whiff of a trail and go down the rabbit hole. 

The giant flew up the stairs, and disappeared around the corner. "Gilles!!" Elias practically screamed, rounded the corner as well now. The Frenchman was gone, nowhere in the hallway. Elias panted quietly, panning his pistol from door to door as he passed them. He felt his pulse hammering at his neck as he trudged further on. As soon as he reached a door, it flew open with force, and Elias screamed like a little girl, a squeeze away from filling what came out of it with lead.

It was just Gilles, having played a nasty prank on the shorter man. Thankfully, Elias didn't shoot him. He was furious enough to, however. _"Verdammte...Scheiße, Gilles! Ich hätte dich verdammt noch mal erschießen können!_ (Fucking...Hell, Gilles! I could have fucking shot you!!)" The German snarled, hitting the man in the shoulder with the butt of his pistol. Gilles had been wheezing with laughter, only stopping to yelp at being hit with the gun. "You screamed like a little girl! God I can't wait to rewatch that part of the tapes!" He was nearly in tears. Elias was red faced, but was calming down.

"Come on...let's get back to town." Gilles chuckled after patting Elias' shoulder, passing him to travel back down the hall. The two operators moved down the corridor, the floor creaking beneath them. It was silent, until Elias giggled, glanced up at Gilles. The giant knit his brows. "...What?" Gilles said. "I love when you whisper sweet nothings in my ear, Gilles. Do defunct buildings light a fire under that pretty ass of yours??" The German teased, brushed up against the giant.

"...Elias, what the fuck are you on about? I didn't say anything." Gilles stopped in his tracks down the flight of stairs to give the shorter man a confused look. Now they both had looks of confusion on their faces. "That wasn't you…" Elias repeated, then they both glanced up towards the top of the stairs. They were hidden, thanks to the turn of the corner, but the floor above them where the stairs did let out creaked, as did the first couple of stairs. Elias and Gilles went wide eyed, and within the next second they were both flying down the stairs. They made it to the base of the stairs, trained their pistols on the stairs. "Go, go Elias! Out the front! I’ll lure whoever it is out!" Gilles hissed, and the younger took off like a rocket. So much for nothing scaring the big shield men. 

As Elias disappeared towards the pond, Gilles nestled behind the overturned couch, still trained on the steps. Those were footsteps, had to be. Those creaks were too loud, indicating something heavy at the steps. Nothing ever came down, however. Gilles only waited for a few more minutes before digging his phone out, calling Elias to give him the all clear. There was no answer, and it went straight to voicemail.

_"Sérieusement?!_ (Seriously?!)" Gilles hissed as he now tucked his phone away, took off in the direction Elias did now. “Elias! Elias?” the Frenchman called after his partner. The fog was substantially thicker around the large pond that spanned the majority of the wine house’s front yard, a few willows surrounding it. Gilles kept calling for the German, started walking the edge of the pond as he looked for him. He hoped Elias hadn’t gone face-first into the water. The pond was hard to see, even approaching it. “...Elle?” he kept calling, until he had stepped on something hard, crunched under his boot. _“C'est quoi ce bordel?_ (What the fuck?)” Gilles muttered, knelt down to what it was that crunched under his foot. It was Elias’ phone. Gilles tucked it into his pocket, got up to his feet and felt his hackles rise under his hoodie as he swiveled his pistol to and fro now. 

It wasn’t like Elias to lose his phone so easily, even when running. This had concerned the taller man greatly, and he picked his pace up to almost a trot as he skirted the edge of the pond. Now he roared his partner’s name. “Elias!!” 

There was no way he could have made it this far, as little time as they were separated. He must have fallen into the pond. There was no other explanation. Gilles cursed as he stopped at the edge now, started stripping his shoes and socks off. Just as he was about to shed his jeans, a glimmer had caught his eye, a color horribly out of place. Dark red stained the grass near his feet, and he knelt to get a closer look. It was blood. Now he started screaming the other man’s name, slid his socks and boots back on like lightning before running past the pond now. He followed the driveway of the beaten down house, sprinted as quickly as his long legs would carry him to the mouth of the drive. It led out onto a road. 

Gilles started hoofing it full speed down the road, keeping his eyes peeled for his partner. If he didn’t fall into the pond, this is the way he would have taken. He only hoped it wasn’t Elias that was bleeding this much. Blood had smeared the side of the road messily, and the further he ran, the more the trail traveled to the center of the road, now to the right of it. Past the fog, the car they had taken from the beginning was now on the road, in the same spot he had parked it earlier. This wasn’t the road they started on, however. _What was going on?_

Gilles approached the side of the car with caution, saw the blood trailing across the side of it, into it. As soon as he approached the driver’s side, his heart leapt up into his throat. He had to brace a hand on the side of the car as his breath had been stolen from him.

Elias was in the driver’s seat, throat opened from ear to ear. The front end of the car was horribly mangled, looking as if it had crashed into something at high speeds. His deadened, glazed over gaze was fixed down the road. His pistol was in his hand, and it had been fired. 

Gilles had lost all composure then and there. _**“Oh my God, Elias!!**_ he yelped, reached in to check for vitals, only in vain. He had to kneel to keep himself from passing out, his blood stained hands running through his hair. “Elias...fuck!” the Frenchman whined, but he had to find who killed him. He stood after he gained his stomach back, and could see through his tears. Now the nausea was replaced with rage. He had noticed how the other man’s gaze had fallen across the road, followed it. “...I’m coming back for you, Elle…” he muttered, leaned in to shut the man’s eyes, placed a shaking kiss to the side of the man’s temple, then grabbed his pistol. Whoever opened the German up like that was going to be filled with every single bullet both of their pistols carried. 

The Frenchman opened the trunk of the car, and retrieved his shield. Maybe this was in fact White Mask activity, and he was going to slaughter each and every one he came across. After he adjusted the heavy slab of metal on his arm, he took off in a trot down the road. Gilles felt naked, without the rest of his armor on, but Le Roc was better than nothing. The blood trail continued, in small spatters, drips. Whoever killed Elias had been peppered with gunfire. 

Into the woods he followed the continuing trail, hellbent and on a mission. The further he made it into the thick of the trees, the darker it got, thanks to the canopy above retaining much of its leaves. Gilles could barely see, but he pulled his pistol back out when he saw something standing...he had somehow snuck up on a deer, despite his rattling around. He lowered his pistol, to catch his breath, but the deer turned around. 

In most instances, a deer would have seen the human that approached, startle, then run away. This deer didn’t budge. There was nothing normal about this deer either, and Gilles immediately understood this. The animal was devoid of fur from the jaw up, it’s head shaped much like a human’s. There were no facial features. No ears to be seen...just a bulbous outlet of flesh atop its neck. Gilles had been taken by surprise, took a step back. The deer-like creature stood its ground, stared the shield operator down with the lack of eyes it had. 

_“...You weren’t quick enough, Gilles. You weren’t there to save me.”_

Hearing the all too familiar voice of his German partner resonate from this creature made the Frenchman’s blood run cold. Gilles almost dropped Le Roc.

_“Yes...it makes your blood boil, knowing you can’t save everyone. You couldn’t even save the person you care about the most. How does it feel? To know that you can’t even do your job right…”_ the creature now took a step towards Gilles, and the man brought his shield up, between him and it. 

_“Funny, how you think that shield can save you from everything...can it save you from your own mortality?”_ the beast asked, approaching closer. It was now about a leg’s length away, and Gilles could see jagged, gnarly teeth emerging from a riff in the creature’s head. It did have a mouth, evidently, and it spanned from the peak of its head all the way down to the base of its neck. It opened its ‘jaw’ wide, in a threatening display, and a long, spindly tongue rolled across its bottom teeth. _“Run...run from your fate! You can only do just that!!”_ it roared, and at the beast’s fleshy head, where a face would be, manifested Elias’ blue eyes that wept blood, a nose accompanying it and poured the same dark red. Gilles didn’t have to be told twice. He turned on his heel, and took off as quickly as his shield allowed, in the direction he came.

_**“We.Are.Inevitable.”**_ the creature now screamed after Gilles before starting in a trot after him.

Gilles ran. Wouldn’t stop running. Not until he found civilization. He needed help, now. 

_“Aidez-moi! Quelqu'un aide!_ (Help! Someone help!!)” he now screamed, hoping anyone in ear shot would hear his well-carrying boom of a voice. He could hear the hoof-falls behind him, and they were gaining tempo and closing distance. He had to slow this thing down, before it took a bite out of him.

In mid stride, he turned on a heel, spun, and slung his shield arm out. The metal slab connected with the creature with a loud gong, and it staggered, squealing as it collapsed to its knees. Now Gilles pulled a pistol, unloaded an entire magazine into it before taking off running once more, still screaming for help. 

Night had nearly fallen, and it was getting darker by the minute. If he couldn’t get to someone soon, he would suffer the same fate as Elias. He didn’t know where on earth they had taken a turn straight into hell, but they did. 

He had finally made it back to the road he found Elias dead on, and made it up to the car. Gilles dug frantically in the trunk, switched out shields. If that thing were to have survived those gunshots, he would have a contingency plan. After donning Elias’ G-52 shield, his attention was caught by movement, across the road. He slid behind the butt-end of the car, swung his pistol and gazed around the edge of it.

A man was strolling down the shoulder, towards the car. He couldn’t see the man’s face, only his silhouette as the fading light behind him cast a shadow. 

_“Police! Laisse moi voir tes mains!_ (Police! Let me see your hands!)” Gilles barked, now strode around the end of the car and hefted the shield as he started walking towards the man. “Let me see your fucking hands! Now!” he nearly roared. There was no slowing, no stopping from the stranger that was approaching, and now Gilles could make out the silhouette of a long and slender weapon in his hand. “Merde.” he muttered to himself before bringing the G-52 forward, thumb ready on the shutter trigger. He knew Elias’ shield didn’t have many flashes, so he would have to make them count. “I will blow your Goddamn head off if you don’t drop that weapon!!” Gilles snarled. If anything, the silhouetted figure picked his pace up, in a power-walk towards the shield toting giant. 

_So be it._

Gilles triggered a flash from the shield, and saw the man’s face and front in that split second of blinding light. He almost lost his composure as soon as he recognized what he saw, and there was no mistaking him. It was Johannes. Now there was no hesitating, Gilles unloaded another magazine at the man, and the distance was just close enough to have all shots hit. Johannes had dropped to the asphalt like a sack of bricks, but Gilles couldn’t rest. He heard leaves rustling behind him, in the trees. That thing was back, and probably more pissed than before. He swung around, the shield still pulled tight in front of him, but his eyes widened at what it had become. 

What had chased him had doubled in size. Although it had kept its quadruped stance, it had shifted from being deer-like to a vague canid appearance, or what he could see anyway. It was so dark, and it’s skin was so sooty and oily that it was hard to make out. He could easily make out that gaping, hinged jaw that nearly split its top half, however. Gilles glanced at the car, saw Elias’ deadened form still in the front seat. In a split decision, he took off back towards the vineyard they had investigated, and the creature followed with a distorted bellow, it’s gait lumbering as it padded across the road after the Frenchman. He had to kill this thing, and quickly. He started taking erratic turns in his wild sprint, hoping to throw off the creature gaining on him. It must have worked because it was falling further and further behind. 

Gilles broke out of the tree line, sucking down air noisily as he continued to make a B-line for the house, towards the pond. The fog had actually cleared around this part of the area, and a starless night with a full moon lit the environment. The beast burst through the treeline just a few minutes after he had, and it screeched erratically before taking off in another canter for the man. It was time to stand his ground. He shrugged his hoodie off frantically, tossed it aside. If he was going to die by an unholy entity, the team had to witness it on camera. He then picked the G-52 back up, widened his stance, and readied his thumb on the flash trigger again. He had to time this just right. “Come on...come on.” he muttered, then sucked down a deep breath, held it as the creature was now just a few meters away and closing fast. It swung its jaw wide open to scoop Gilles up, but as soon as he saw the glowing gleam of the creature's eyes, he flashed it. 

It squealed, and he side stepped quickly as inertia took the beast over. He let it careen past him, and just as the shoulder of it was centered with the front of the shield, Gilles took off, ramming the beast hard. They were just close enough to the bank of the pond, and the beast went tumbling in with Gilles. The placid pond sloshed, if only for a few minutes. Just as the water started settling once more, Gilles emerged for air, gasping before paddling like mad. It was much deeper than he anticipated, and he would surely drown if he couldn’t get to the shore of it. He internally cursed his weak swimming abilities now. Unfortunately, he had dropped the G-52 in his struggles as well, and it was no doubt settling at the bottom of the pond. He pulled himself to shore, sputtering water before sprawling to the cool grass, catching his breath once more. 

He hadn't but exhaled twice, when a large hand was flung downward, snagged the Frenchman by his hair and hiked him skyward. Gilles howled at the pain of his scalp being assaulted, was lifted clean off his feet. As soon as he was able to open his eyes, they went wide at who had him by the hair. 

"...P-Patrice…" he wheezed in alarm, tried breaking free from the iron grasp. Johannes was in fact still walking, but whether or not he was alive was a guess. The large man was riddled with bullet holes, other deep gashes in his gnarled, gray skin, what was left of his tattered clothes blood-soaked. What wept from the wounds wasn't blood, but rather an oily looking pus. Johannes' eyes were glassed over, milky. There was no soul to be felt in that shredding gaze. Gilles was terrified, felt his pulse hammer wildly at the sides of his neck as he screamed again, for anyone to hear. The screams only fell on deaf ears. 

The weapon he had brandished earlier had never been let go, and he now wielded it upwards. It was a bent, rusted tie rod, an end of it snapped clean off to make one hell of a piercing edge to it. Gilles could put two and two together at this point. Although he couldn't feel his scalp now, he lashed out, sent a knee straight up to the undead's crotch, and landed a righteous blow. It made the entity wretch, and his grip on the operator's hair loosened just enough for him to wriggle free. 

He didn't know why his flight response was replaced with fight, but Gilles never took off in another run. Instead, he fought. 

The giant already landed two debilitating punches to Johannes' face, but he soon realized that he felt no pain. An adversary that felt nothing when you land multiple knockout worthy punches was a dangerous one. Johannes knocked a punch wayward after the third or fourth, grabbed Gilles by his throat now. The being opened his mouth, let out an unholy roar. At a quick glance, Gilles saw his teeth were blackened, rotting out of his skull, bit his teeth were hardly what he focused on as the breath was being crushed right out of his windpipe. Another thrash, and Gilles flung an arm up, torqued himself enough to break loose once more, but Johannes wasn't having him free. 

The gray skinned creature grabbed Gilles once more, and this time he plunged the sharp end of the tie rod he had a death grip on forward, with blinding speed. It tore through flesh, rib, innards, and the nose of that edge protruded out from underneath Gilles' shoulder blade. A strained, shocked gasp came from the operator, and he felt his knees go weak underneath him. Johannes only drove that tie rod deeper through, pulled Gilles closer to him. 

Gilles knew he wasn't going to survive now, but he may as well go down fighting. He had heard the water behind him roiling, and his only conclusion that the beast he rammed into the pond hadn't drowned. Instead of throwing punches, or trying to break away from Johannes, he flung an arm up with what little strength he had left, coiled it around the creature's neck. 

_"...Checkmate, motherfucker…"_ Gilles rasped, blood pouring from his bottom lip as he now grinned. 

No sooner than he breathed his last words, the beast that was in the pond arose from the water in a mighty splash, and had taken on the form of a massive catfish. Its toothed maw gaped wide as it lunged for the two, keening. Johannes tried to break free from Gilles, but the operator had his arm locked around his neck. _I'm taking you with me!!_

In the blink of an eye, the beast snagged them both up, swallowed them whole. Once it thrashed and rolled to work its meals down, it lay on the shore of the pond, if for a moment, to readjust its jaw like a snake would after eating. After resting, it hauled itself back into the pond. Once the water settled, the area surrounding the pond fell eerily quiet. The pond became a mirror once more. 

_~~~_

The search and rescue team came a day or so later, finally found the area Gilles and Elias were last known to be in. They traced the phone call back to the ancient house, and began searching the vineyard. One operative spotted Elias in the damaged car, in early stages of festering. They handled his body with care after pulling his hoodie off of him for the zipper cam, zipped him up in a body bag. 

Another half of the team continued to search for Gilles, but had only found his hoodie left behind. They figured he knew he would make his final stand somewhere close, and searched the immediate area. Blood had choked the grass beneath their feet as they searched. After a few days of searching the entire vineyard, they called the search off, despite Six's protests. 

The search and rescue team returned with what they could salvage, and Six prepared herself to watch the feedback of the zipper cams both operatives had. 

As she went through both videos, she had to stop them a few times, to catch her breath. She had never seen such creatures, such slaughter in her career. They made her stomach knot watching them, but she trooped on, had to. She had to know what happened to her operatives. 

_~~~_

_"Effective immediately, I want that entire historic district of Bordeaux quarantined off. No one is to step in OR out of that area...once it is properly contained, I want our air team to level that area, that house. I don't care if it's historic. It's an epicenter….Gilles and Elias didn't find a White Mask outcropping, no... **They found the portal to hell."**_


End file.
